The Tennessee Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has organized representatives of the poor and directly affected from across the state to testify at the Poor People’s Hearing at American Baptist College in Nashville on Monday, January 7, 2019 at 6 pm. This is the evening before the 2019 session of the Tennessee legislature convenes.

This is a moment in which our legislators, elected officials and the people in power across the state most need to hear the voices of the directly affected and the moral authority of faith leaders in addressing the grievous sins of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy and ecological devastation. We have invited our state legislators and national Congressional representatives, as well as mayors and officials from cities and counties across Tennessee.

We are inviting the powerful — not to speak for us — but to listen. We are inviting those in power to listen to those who have traditionally been left out of the electoral and governing processes in this country. Tennessee’s elected officials will learn about the power of a new and unsettling force that is organizing across this country, and they will hear our demands!

Henry Giroux, author of forthcoming book, America at War with Itself, chats with Max Keiser. **** fair warning **** Max is a bit of an acquired taste if you are not familiar with his gonzo political science theater 3000 approach to realeconomick and realpolitick.

I agree with Henry’s general theme that institutional education is not placing an emphasis on what I would refer to as the classical liberal arts ability to turn information into knowledge (or apply it, wisdom). In fact, it’s very purpose is to produce neofeudal serfs (thanks, Max).

Yet, there is at the same time, a trend which goes unreported in the Main Stream Media re: the gigabit enablement of libraries (third spaces and repositories of historical materials), global collaboration of national research and education networks (NRENs) linking higher education institutions and other interested parties, efforts like US Ignite, Intelligent Community Forum and the home schooling collaborative curriculum alternatives that go unmentioned (Curriki, Steve Hargadon’s work, Khan Academy, MOOCs, Video archives [C-SPAN, for example and increasingly State libraries], Internet Archives, Wikibooks, LibriVox, Wikipedia, etc.). It is my personal hope that congregations and denominations will shift their real estate to meet the needs of their communities by becoming these gigabit enabled third spaces for community building and co-working (many are already on that journey but these things take time). Tutoring via Google Plus Hangouts and other similar technologies is on the rise and it is global in nature.

While Max’s show is hosted on RT, the growth of internet-based independent investigative media #disintermedia is only going to be speeded by the adoption of crypto and digital currencies (fostering easier crowd funding of reporters and investigations).

A BOTTLENECK: What is lacking is the ability of standard HR departments to assess new kinds of credentialing which arise out of these life long learning models. The reality that global corporate executives can make more money gambling in the derivatives market than in producing actual products which require workers to manufacture is one of Max’s hypotheses that I think deserves much more academic discussion.

There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:25-28

Should Jesus tarry in his return, the World Convention web site has a pointer to the June 2016 Christian Standard which touches on a couple of the topics mentioned above.

Opening News Conference
National Governors Association Chair Governor John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Vice Chair Governor Gary Herbert (R-UT) held a news conference to discuss the agenda of the NGA’s summer meeting at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Topics included economic growth measures, the House bill to withhld federal funds from “sanctuary cities,” and protection of their National Guard units in the wake of the Chattanooga shooting.http://www.c-span.org/video/?327220-1/national-governors-association-opening-news-conference